Jacksonville Police Officer Clifford Sames, who shot a man Saturday during a gun battle, receives the Sheriff's Office Purple Heart from Sheriff John Rutherford in 2009 after surviving being shot in another gun battle with a man who was killed in the exchange

Jacksonville police have blocked off streets along 8th Street just west of Interstate 95 as they investigate a report of a police involved shooting.

More public safety coverage

Subscribe to RSS headline updates from: Powered by FeedBurner

SUNDAY UPDATE: At a Sunday morning news conference Jacksonville police announced Devon Rashad Spencer, 23, has been so far charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in connection with Saturday's violence. Read the full update here.

-------

A violent night and morning in Jacksonville continued Saturday as a police officer shot a man who attacked him in a gun battle near Stanton College Preparatory School, several blocks in either direction from two other shootings that occurred hours apart.

Police gave no indication of links among the shootings, which occurred in similar crime-ridden neighborhoods northwest of downtown, are connected.

Saturday’s police shooting occurred just south of Moncrief Road and West 13th Street, where 40 violent crimes were reported in the past year within a 1,500 foot radius. The city has been pursuing a pilot project in the area to reduce street-corner drug sales and property neglect. Four police officers – two in cars and two on bikes - have been assigned the project area.

Ironically, the shooting occurred a few blocks from a church where a memorial service was being held for a teen slain a week ago during a house party. The shooting also occurred less than three days after another police officer was shot in the arm during a traffic stop miles away in Lackawanna.

“It does illustrate this is a very dangerous job,” Brown said. “He [Sames] was not injured, thankfully.”

Sames has been placed on administrative leave as part of a routine Sheriff’s Office policy during the investigation of any police shooting.

Brown said Saturday’s incident began about 6 a.m. when police were investigating a hit-and-run crash at Moncrief Road and Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway, about a half-mile northwest of the shooting scene. No one was injured in the crash.

Brown said Sames, armed with information about the hit-and-run vehicle, went to Frazier Street and spotted three people standing in a nearby front yard. As Sames approached, one person began shooting at the officer. Sames fired back five times, hitting the gunman several times.

The wounded man fled the area and was later found hiding in a nearby shed as police swarmed to the scene. The man was taken to UF Health Jacksonville with non-life threatening injuries. Police are not sure if the wounded man was involved in the hit-and-run accident or what provoked him to open fire on Sames, Brown said.

Brown was not sure if the suspect’s gun had been recovered. It’s unclear what happened to the two other people with the wounded man.

Police blocked off numerous intersections from West Eight Street to West 13th Street as they stopped and interviewed motorists. A swath of the neighborhood was blocked off with police tape and at least some people are either being kept from their homes or were told to stay inside.

The police activity greeted mourners leaving a memorial service for 19-year-old Willie Johnson at Queen Esther Church of God in Unity just blocks from the scene. Johnson was slain last Saturday while a guest at a house party.

The church’s pastor, the Rev. Ben Hoover, said he was disheartened by the continuing violence in the city.

‘Enough is enough,’ Hoover said. ‘We've got to pull together with one another and work with one another for things to change.”

Hoover said he is concerned for the safety of police as the attack on Sames occurred less than a week after a Jacksonville police officer was shot in the arm during a traffic stop in Lackawanna.

“They do have a hard job,” Hoover said. “Right now, they are very fearful with how things are going.”

Nicole Smith, 29, had just left the memorial service when she saw the nearby streets blocked with police tape.

“It’s terrible. It’s sad. It’s pathetic,” said Smith, 29.

Joe Brown, who recently moved into the neighborhood, said he was worried for children in the area.

“I have a 4-year-old and I have my niece and nephew here every other weekend,” said Brown, 33. “If violence like this occurs every other day, how can I have them outside playing and enjoying themselves. It’s just an unsafe neighborhood to raise a child.”

Parents of students who attend Stanton, which is about a quarter-mile from the shooting scene, were greeted by the police activity as they arrived early Saturday afternoon to pick up their children from taking advanced placement tests. Most of the gifted magnet school’s students are bussed or get rides from neighborhoods across the city to a spot were at least some parents worry about their safety.

“The neighborhood is a little dicey,” said Valadi Srinivasan, 52, whose daughter is a ninth grade student at the school. “We do worry when we send out kids here in the morning. We hope there is enough protection in the school. We have to ... pray for the best.”

Sames, 37, was shot in the neck in 2008 when a man with an unknown motive pulled a gun on him after being stopped about a mile from where Saturday’s attack occurred. Sames and partner David Ostertag fired back, killing gunman Chester Elliott.

Sames had to spend only four hours in the hospital following the September shooting and returned to the streets 31 days later. He received the Sheriff’s Office purple heart for his heroics and later told The Times-Union he was aware of the dangers of the job.

“I worked in a very high-crime area and I knew it was probably a matter of time before I would get into a shooting,” Sames said for a 2009 story.

Sames said he thought daily about being shot, especially when on duty. He made it a point to revisit the spot where he faced every cop’s worst fear.

“At least once during my shift, I will go by there,” Sames said. “I guess I force myself to not avoid it.”

When asked why, he said softly, “I don’t know. I really don’t know.”

Saturday's police shooting was preceded by these other nearby shootings:

■ One person was injured about 5 a.m. Saturday in the 700 block of Venus Mars Court near UF Health Jacksonville, just across Interstate 95 from the police shooting scene. In that case, police said the victim was walking in the 2100 block of North Davis Street when a blue car drove up and two shots were fired before the car sped off.

No further details were released about the victim, including whether that person was a man or woman. The victim was treated at a nearby hospital.

■ A man was shot Friday night in the 1600 block of Barnett Avenue, a short distance west from the police shooting. When police arrived on Barnett Avenue, they found a 33-year-old man suffering from a gunshot to the arm.

Area residents told police they saw two men running through the neighborhood on foot immediately after the shooting. Their identities were unknown. Police also found a vehicle with several bullet holes in the driver’s door abandoned near the scene of the shooting.

The unidentified victim was taken to UF Health Jacksonville with non-life threatening injuries.

Whenever a story appears in the TU concerning a police shooting or an officer involved in an automobile accident, then the liberal losers in this community have a field day. These losers who make these comments would would never put themselves in danger to help someone else. They are the cowards of society that hide behind a keyboard and take shots at those who serve to protect us. The disdain must go back to some of their past experiences with law enforcement when they were probably the ones in cuffs. Any productive, law-abiding citizen would never have this kind of disdain for the police. This disdain is present in those who most likely have no real life, probably a moocher of society, who lash out at those who locked them up for their loser actions in the past. So, to the losers, get a life, obey the law, and maybe one day you can buy your own computer instead of going to the public library to post your garbage on the TU website.

Not that I wish you ill-will, but if you ever need the Police to save your butt, I hope to get to see it.

In the mean time, call your local JSO sub-station and do a ride-a-long, then go to the Zone 5 sub-station and do another ride-a-long. Then come back and re-post after you see what these men and women do day after day.

It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.

Yes Police Officers took a 3% pay cut and no they never got it back. They have not seen an increase in pay since that cut back. The COLA you talk about is only for retirees, not the active employees you speak of. And to further my point, the COLA is on their retirement check, which is for most about 60% of the pay the left with which then equates to less than the 3% you are suggesting they get. Also the COLA is from the Police/Pension fund which the city entered into a 30 year contract, and then failed to properly fund, so they could have extra spending money in the general fund. Please try to get your facts straight before you sound off.

Oh and it was sure nice to read your comments that you are very happy the Officer was able to survive the gun battle and go home to his family. Uh Oh, sorry, guess you left that out by mistake!